Can’t Hack This

May 5, 2018

Can’t Hack This was a security consulting company created to help companies and brands protect themselves from punk kids like me.

I’m not currently promoting this as a core service, but it is something I still write and speak about, and I may offer it in the future.

I was 13-years-old and I (allegedly) got caught hacking.

Not by the feds, thankfully. It was by my dad.

I’d learned enough to be more than dangerous at that point. Originally, I’d just wanted to figure out how to write programs to play Neopets for me (I owe my career to Neopets because of this – read more on my blog)

Business was mostly driven by public speaking. I’d stand up in front of adults about security fundamentals, and give quick audits to whoever gave me their business card for a modest fee.

If a company was brave enough I’d audit their site live on stage. I would never give details publicly, of course. I would embarrass them with their permission, though, and give them a basic idea of how easy it’d be for someone motivated to mess things up.

This was really the first company I ever started, and it’s pretty fitting. In my mind, the best entrepreneurs are all hackers.